A Professor Not So Short
by Areum113
Summary: After the Promised Day, many names from the military made it to the news. Some notable ones like the Flame Alchemist Roy Mustang stayed there as he rose through the ranksand moved to Central, the famous Fullmetal Alchemist disappeared. It was unexpected, to say the least, when Agnese looked at the list of her professors and saw the name Edward Elric.
1. Meeting The Legend

**To briefly explain things, when Ed is transmuting Al back, Hohenheim understanding what's going on, interferes and bypasses the circle to offer himself up for a final act as their father. Ed keeps his alchemy but loses his arm for opening the gate. he still knows that he has truth beaten but the days of transmuting humans and running around chasing Philosopher's Stone and the Homunculi are over. All that matters is that Al has his body back, Ed can live with metal limbs, he is Fullmetal.**

Agnese was excited to start studying in the Central University. After the events of the coup three years ago, the country started to focus on things besides just the military. Central University was the best in the nation with an alchemy course that was rumoured to be the best way to learn the science nowadays. Agnese was always interested in alchemy; she had studied as much science as she could in school and researched as much in alchemy as she could. Now she had the chance to learn it, to make sense of all those complex books about alchemy.

Agnese was over the moon when the letter of her acceptance to Central University Alchemy Studies came in. She could be an alchemist! Until this course got more attention from the government and more funding with new and better teachers, learning alchemy was an individual thing to do. Alchemist studied hard and had to search far and wide to find a good alchemist that knew what they were doing and was willing to teach. Now it was taught in a school, opening the way for people like Agnese to learn the science.

It was a good thing that Agnese's family was living in Central. She had to walk a bit in the mornings or take the tram but the commute wasn't too far and nothing too different from high school. She got to stay with her family. She was only eighteen, not ready to leave her family for the first time and live alone yet.

* * *

The first day was an orientation day. The alchemy course had about thirty or so people in it for the first years. The qualifications were harsh and that was more people than expected. Some second year student passing by told them to not keep their hopes high. The hard part wasn't getting in the course, it was staying in the course and things looked more grim this year for first year students with the latest staff change. The first years had a new Introduction to Alchemy professor after Prof. Lowell's retirement. Apparently, Lowell was a kind old man, not the greatest alchemist but good with teaching the basics and one that gave his students a lot of extensions and let them work at their own pace. The second year student said the new professor who had a trial week at the end of last year, was the opposite of Lowell.

Agnese looked over the list she was given with the courses she had to take, credits and professors. She had a lot of physics and chemistry credits to fill. Biology was an elective until she chose medical alchemy in third year. The class that needed the most credits and wasn't optional but necessary was of course Introduction to Alchemy. The list said the professor was Edward Elric, a familiar name to anyone that had a bit of interest in alchemy. A name that hadn't been around for a while now, for about three years. Agnese recognised the name of course, her professor was the Fullmetal Alchemist! What an honour to be learning from a renowned alchemist that was good enough to become a state alchemist! Agnese couldn't help but gush about it to her parents. She was so excited to meet her professor the next day.

Every fist year seemed excited, sitting in the lecture hall. Half of the hall was empty, thirty was plenty for alchemy but too little compared to other courses. The course was trying to sit in the front rows, close to the teacher's desk and blackboard, to see the legend himself better. There was a buzz of excitement for learning alchemy from someone as famous as the Fullmetal Alchemist, learning all the advanced things that he knew and the giant transmutations he was known for. They all wanted to see the mystery man, the Hero of the People, the genius alchemist that all of them heard of and none of them had seen.

Agnese didn't know what to expect. Fullmetal was quite a harsh title and based on the logic alchemists were names after their specialties, it meant Edward Elric specialized in the transmutation of metals. He couldn't be too young to serve in the army and receive a name like that. He was known as a great alchemist and one would have to devote much time to be as good as he was rumoured to be. He couldn't be too old or he wouldn't be known as a prodigy, it meant he was younger than most yet more accomplished. Someone in their thirties maybe...? With a name like Fullmetal, long time spent practicing alchemy and a military background, he must be a strict man, one that would push them hard to do their best and work with a schedule unlike the old and more relaxed Prof. Lowell. It wasn't going to be easy but Agnese was excited anyway.

The professor seemed to running late. Five minutes into the lecture the doors were pushed open to reveal a nervous looking boy to everyone's dismay. The boy took a sigh of relief at the absence of their professor before taking a seat next to Agnese. Where the hell was the professor? "You know who the professor is?" The boy asked slightly out of breath. "Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Yeah." The boy's eyes were shining with the same spark Agnese's had at the idea of learning from the Fullmetal Alchemist. "I was so worried. He was military, he must be really strict and all, and I slept through my alarm and ran. I didn't know what would happen if I was late, y'know?"

"Weird that a military officer is running late." The bot nodded. "Well I can't complain since it saved my ass. I'm Gavin."

"Agnese."

Gavin seemed easy going and relaxed. He was wearing some jeans with a shirt untucked and wrinkled. He didn't look really studious and quite nice with his dark hair, hazel eyes and slight tan. He obviously was smart to get in here and looks weren't everything about a person.

Around ten minutes into the class the door was kicked open. A boy, barely a man around nineteen years old came in. Another late student? He lacked Gavin's worry at the cognition of being late. Agnese would hate to judge by looks but this goth or punk or whatever looking boy didn't look like he had any idea about the rigorous study needed to learn alchemy. He had thick soled black boots and leather pants on that displayed a rather muscled build with how they wrapped around him. He had a chain dangling from his belt disappearing into his pocket. The loose and long sleeved black shirt let scars peek around his left collar bone. His pristine white gloves looked out of place and his golden complexion and long golden hair in a pony tail popped out with all the black clothing. He was quite good looking with a strong jaw. He still looked like someone who would rather run around causing trouble than sit and listen to a lecture. His lazy gait did not give the impressions of someone here to study and devote time to the precise and complex science of alchemy.

The boy walked up to the teacher's desk without a care in the world and dumped the red coat tucked under his arm on the desk. He sat down on the chair and put his feet up on the desk displaying the worn red soles with mud in the ridges to the whole class. He leaned back as he gazed at the students with a rather unimpressed look. "You guys look like you don't know much. Who here has transmuted anything? Raise your hands." No one did. Agnese wasn't sure if they were just confused with what was going on or just inexperienced with alchemy. Not that there was anything wrong with that, Agnese herself had never done a transmutation before either.

The boy in black put his left had up to his face. Two fingers gently rubbing his temple as the others rested on his cheek. He seemed frustrated. Who was this arrogant boy sitting in the professor's seat and questioning them. Where was the Fullmetal Alchemist?

"At least tell me you guys know the law of Equivalent Exchange. Raise your hands if you don't know. Don't bother lying, I'll know." There were some hands. Agnese thought if someone wanted to learn alchemy they would at least know the first thing about it, she knew it, but then again they were here to learn and there was no reason to be judged for not knowing. Who was this boy to look so scandalized anyway? Where in hell was their professor? Surely this arrogant boy wasn't the legendary alchemist!

The boy started complaining loudly. "First, they want me to teach beginner's crap and waste all my knowledge. You should know all these, they are basic and common knowledge for any alchemist, heck any scientist! You can't say you want to be an alchemist but you don't know what Equivalent Exchange is..." He kept ranting about them rather disappointed until a brave soul spoke up. "And who the hell are you anyway?" The boy looked rather angry as he spoke through gritted teeth. "Who the hell am I? I'm your professor!" They were all shocked at the boy looking so disappointed at not being recognized and instead doubted at. One of the other three girls in the hall besides Agnese spoke up. "But our professor is Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Well I'm no longer with the military so to hell with that title." He sounded irritated.

The shock was setting in. The legend, the hero of the people, the Fullmetal Alchemist was this boy. This shorter than average, dressed up in black and leather, foul mouthed boy. It didn't make sense to Agnese, it didn't make sense to anyone. He had to be lying, no way someone their age had already served in military for years and had retired three years ago already, he would've been a kid in military, a kid doing alchemy. No way a kid their age was a legendary alchemist said to best of the best when he was their age and they barely know the very basics if they knew anything at all.

After the shock came the denial. The students were crying out and rejecting the idea of someone their age being an accomplished alchemist and their teacher. "ENOUGH!" The boy claiming to be Edward Elric yelled. "I don't care what you think. I am Edward Elric and I am your professor. You can take it and try using your tiny ass brains to learn or just fucking leave now! Not that you idiots who don't even know what Equivalent Exchange is will actually get anywhere! Now just shut the fuck up!" He had quite the pair of lugs.

He slammed his feet down to the ground. They made an uneven sound when they landed, one foot heavier than the other. He sprang to his feet, the movement fluid and flexible. He grabbed a piece of chalk from the desk with his left hand and turned to the blackboard. Soon a barely legible word was written on board. QUIZ. His grin was sharp, he had the look of a predator, a lion staring them down with his golden mane and strangely golden eyes. He wasn't yelling anymore but that didn't mean he wasn't any less intimidating with his next words. "Let's see what you guys really know." The whole class groaned in unison.

**I was reading some FMA fanfics recently and I am inspired. FMA is one of my favourite anime/mangas and Edwarrd Elric is one of my favourite characters in any fandom. Hiromu Arakawa inspires me so much and it's exciting that I'm writing a fanfic for FMA. The cannon ending is great but this is my fantasy now and I will give my baby everything (that I want ofc.)**  
**I hope I can write Edward and Agnese well, they are kind of opposites. Agnese is growing and she can't really leave home, she is dependent, while Edward is Edward, stubborn and determination personified. He can be childish, he was a child in the series and he grew up too fast without ever being a child truly, but he understands how life works and is very mature in a lot of ways. Agnese is also challenging for me to write because I could and did leave home to chase things I wanted instead of staying with my parents and being afraid to leave. I think her personality right now and any changes that may or may not happen will be more clear as the story progresses.**  
**I plan to write 1-2 more chapters, depending on how it goes. I have some idea but i need to put it down first.**


	2. More Than It Seems

The boy that claimed to be Edward Elric showed himself to be quite harsh as a teacher. He had established that quite clearly by giving a quiz in his first lecture. The quiz had been a mix of advanced chemistry and physics calculations with questions about laws of alchemy thrown in. There were a few questions that wanted them to draw arrays for a specific transmutation as well. There was also a bonus at the end that was a riddle. One is all, all is one. Elric had given them all morning until lunch to solve the quiz and had let them free in the afternoon to go through their answers. He gave them a whole month to come up with an answer for the riddle but didn't say anything about what they would get if they answered it correctly.

"That was intense wasn't it?" Gavin was smiling as he tagged along with Agnese for lunch. "Those were some hard questions. I think barely anybody knows about arrays in the course."  
"Do you know about arrays?"  
"Yea, a bit. I haven't transmuted, there's a lot involved in it besides the arrays and a rebound is scary." Agnese was surprised that Gavin was further ahead than her and most others in the course. He seemed like a cool and outgoing person with his boyish looks and relaxed clothing instead of the studying type. Then again, Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist was apparently a goth teenager rather than a knowledgeable middle-aged military officer in a suit or a uniform. "I've never looked into arrays. I'm stuck with the basic principals of alchemy."  
"Well, we're there to learn. And Elric seems to know his stuff. Those questions that he made up on the spot were hard as hell." Agnese nodded. "I wonder what the riddle is about too."

Next day Elric had showed up on time to declare them all disappointments that didn't have the dedication to be an alchemist. "You can barely do simple chemistry and physics, fuck alchemy. More than half of you are struggling with basic alchemy laws and principals. Only a few people have any clue what an array is…" Elric ran a glowed through his ponytail, messing it up and letting it fall down back into it's golden stream. He was grumbling and looking rather distraught at their lack of knowledge. "I know you need to do some chemistry and physics credits and god knows you need them. Just work on them with your other lectures. I'm just gonna try to teach you idiots basic alchemy." He wrote Equivalent Echange on the board. "So who can explain the first and most important law of alchemy?" Half of the students put their hands up.

* * *

At the end of the first week Agnese felt like her head was about to explode. It was only the first week! Her head felt full of knowledge about basic laws and principles of alchemy. Too gain something, something of equal value must be sacrificed… You can't convert inorganic matter to organic… By harnessing tectonic energy you have the power to perform transmutation and change the matter's form… Alchemy has three steps: understanding, deconstructing and reconstructing… She wasn't the only one who felt overwhelmed in the course at least. They all agreed that Elric was moving through the subject at a merciless pace.

Gavin pointed out that while they were constantly referring their books and furiously taking notes, Elric had yet to crack open a single cover. Despite he was obviously not looking anything up, his knowledge was immaculate, almost word for word from the books. Often times, when they asked him to explain he would complain about how there was no way to dumb it down any further and grumble but not yell as much as that first lecture. He called them hopeless idiots at some point. "Even a kid can understand these." Agnese along with many others would argue that there was no way a kid could comprehend such advanced subjects but there stood the evidence that yes there was a kid who could since Elric was already teaching them at the age of nineteen.

The students' complaints and questions did nothing to slow down Elric's relentless pace. He told them that their Basic Alchemy book had all these rules written down. They could study from there over the weekend, they would be moving on to alchemic symbols next week. At that point the whole class, besides a few who knew this already, was groaning about how it was impossible to revise so much stuff. "They are simple laws that a kid can understand and remember. We're not even close to actually doing alchemy and I'm trying to get you guys there. So get off your asses and go to the library or something." He seemed rather uncaring of their workload. He really was proving that second year student that warned them during orientation right about how ruthless he was.

So far, learning from the Fullmetal Alchemist had been an absolute pain rather than the blessing Agnese had expected. Gavin on the other hand had stars in his eyes whenever Elric was talking but he proved himself to be a blessing for Agnese. "I have studied these before. They really are simple stuff, nothing to overthink really. I can help you revise and understand." Agnese was a bit annoyed that he was so further ahead but grateful for the help.

* * *

The next week was no different from the first. Elric gave them a bunch of symbols that he repeatedly said were essentials for composing basic arrays. Agnese couldn't understand how essentials took about five pages in their book or how Elric expected them to have it all memorized by the end of the week. He screamed more about how it was easy, it was just memorizing and even a kid could remember a few symbols. If they wanted to become alchemists, they could study and remember a few symbols. He also told them if they complained too much, he would do a quiz and use it in their end of term scores. That made the stream of complaints stop.

Agnese spent all of her afternoons and weekends so far studying. People had said to her that university was great for socializing, partying, doing a lot of things and living her life. She only saw the tired looking faces of her classmates in the library as they were studying. That was all the socializing and partying she had done. Her activity was revision. Two people had dropped out by the end of the second week, trying to change their main course to physics or chemistry or maths before it was too late. A petition to have Elric removed or switched with another professor was going around among first years.

They soon learned why Elric was going so fast to teach them all these things. He slowed down considerably once he started teaching about arrays. He talked at length about how each symbol complimented each other and helped determine the purpose of the array with their position, size and interaction with other symbols in the array. He was referring to the first step of transmutation, understanding a lot but repeatedly telling them they had to understand their material first before making an array to transmute.

He told them that circle was the essence of alchemy and life. Energy flowed in the circle in one direction, once they activated an array and the energy started flowing there was no going back, they had to direct it and go through with the transmutation. That's why they had to be careful with their arrays, they had to be precise and define what they were supposed to do very clearly. He told them they would work on simple arrays this year, and they wouldn't start transmuting until he was sure they were all ready.

There were some more advanced symbols and sample arrays in the book. Agnese didn't understand why there was a life symbols, could you transmute living creature in cold blood? Elric told them to pay no attention to them and just learn the basics first. Simple transmutations could go a long way when mastered and a simple array could be more flexible in use than a complicated one. He was taking his sweet time explaining, giving them simple materials like chalk or stones they could find anywhere, making them understand what they were made of and draw simple arrays for deconstructing or reshaping the materials. No changing forms or elements. No deconstructing on molecular levels. Just making clay statues or making a rock into smaller rocks.

Once he was actually doing it, it turned out that he was he was rather good at explaining. He would still complain about how he couldn't dumb things down anymore than he already was doing whenever they said they didn't understand something, but he would take his time to go over it again anyway. It seemed like he really wanted them to understand arrays and materials that went into transmuting. It was a good thing because they were in the subjects where Gavin wasn't really knowledgeable anymore and Agnese didn't have someone to help her understand anymore.

Between the calm explanations and slow paced lectured, Agnese could see the spark in Elric's eyes. Whenever he talked about arrays, transmutations and materials, no matter how simple, he would enthuse so much. He really loved alchemy and lived for it, spent a life learning it. He still had to look at a book yet, he was like a walking alchemy encyclopedia, reciting from memory and even mentioning the alchemists he recited. He really knew what he was doing. The circles he drew were perfect and the lines of each and every symbol was smooth, a big difference from the chicken scratch that was his handwriting. There was an unending passion for knowledge and understanding in Elric. He sounded like things so simple were making up the complex universe and he had the key to the truth of alchemy and everything with the simplest array.

At the end of the week they had knowledge about arrays for shaping dirt and clay. Elric gave them a very simple array that was made from two squares and two circles intertwined inside the biggest circle. He told them that the array could make small statues if they put more energy and material they could make bigger ones but as first times they would just over exhaust themselves to a failure. He told them that familiarity with transmuting and concentration would help get in more detail and leave less transmutation marks. That got everybody asking when they could do their first transmutation, they were all excited.

Elric was quick to get their hopes down. They needed to get better at the first step of transmutation, understanding, before attempting anything. "None of you are able to tell what's in a lump of clay for elements and molecules without my help. I hope that will change but for now you aren't ready if you can't do the first step of transmutations." They also haven't covered rebounds yet. They needed to know what could happen if they messed up and why making sure their understanding of materials and their arrays had to be perfect. He then told them off for having eggs instead of circles and lines worse than a pre-schooler's for their symbols. While he was complaining way less and very slow and calm in explaining he seemed to insult them a lot, maybe due to his disappointment at them for not knowing or studying enough. They couldn't argue with a guy that seemed to draw perfect circles every time, and it made Agnese wonder when he started learning alchemy exactly with all the even a kid can do this comments.

"Maybe you were right. Elric isn't so bad at teaching once he's actually explaining and not just rushing through like ten pages of explanations a day." Gavin smirked at Agnese. "Told you. He really knows his stuff. Can't wait for him to let us transmute."  
"Yeah. I don't get why we can't start now." Gavin pursed his lips as if Agnese was missing something important. "Well, if you mess up a transmutation it backfires. That's the rebound thing he mentioned. There's no telling what can happen with a rebound. It can just be a failure of array and it won't work, or it can be a scratch, an explosion, anything really. The books I read didn't give too many examples, but rebounds are the reason I never transmuted before. Too scared to do it for the first time without someone experienced to guide me."

* * *

Elric moved on to rebounds the very next week. He told them when he felt like they all understood the risks of messing up an array or biting off more than they can chew with a too advanced or too big transmutation. When he decided they were all ready they would transmute simple clay statues with the array he gave them.

He jumped into a rather stupendous lecture about what could cause a rebound and what a rebound could do. "There was this third-rate alchemist pretending to be a priest or something, he tried to transmute a machine gun and fucked up. He had all these metal parts and cables transmuted into his arm, effectively fucking up his arm irreparably." He had a devilish and rather satisfied smirk as he called the man third-rate, like he was on a completely different level. He might have been, he seemed to know enough. Yet, Agnese caught a glimpse that he was not really relishing in the gruesome memory or this talk about dangerous rebounds. He just seemed to be trying hard to get his point across and make them understand that mistakes with alchemy had serious consequences. "Professor, have you ever had a rebound yourself?"

Elric had a weird look in his face. His usual confident and sadistic grin was no more, his face was blank, but his eyes betrayed pain. Was it the memory of a rebound that hurt so much or was it the pain of admitting that even the Fullmetal Alchemist could make mistakes? He didn't always have to be a foul-mouthed and arrogant teenager. "That's none of your business." His usually expressive and naturally loud voice was chillingly cold and low. They were threading dangerous territory. Not everybody seemed to get that though. "C'mon teach. It couldn't have been too bad. You're our age and I bet it was a scratch. I get it, you have the whole Fullmetal shit going on and you're too afraid to admit even you can fuck up. No need to act like a god, like you're perfect or something."  
"What would you know of god. He's an arrogant bastard just like me."

Elric looked furious. It was more than the anger towards an annoying student questioning his authority though. It was chilling really , the only time he really seemed angry was during the first lecture where he had yelled for the first and last time. He was naturally boisterous with a voice that could fill the large hall but not necessarily screaming or angry, more along the lines of disappointed. This time he was seething with rage with voice low and echoing. "You don't understand jack shit. There are transmutations and rebound that can kill. They can take anything from you for equivalence because some things have no equal. And some rebounds can make you wish you were dead instead of living with the consequences." He slammed his right hand down on the table, the hand he never used for holding pens or chalk or shaking hands. The sound that came out was too loud and too hollow to be the dull thud of flesh against wood. His hand was not flesh. "You guys aren't the first ones. How does a boy like me have a harsh name like Fullmetal? How do I qualify to teach you? Because of this!" When he rolled up his black shirt's sleeve they could all see the glinting metal. "This is what happens when you are arrogant and try to play god with alchemy. Now, even god or truth or whatever you want to call him hates me. But he knows I cracked him and his equivalent exchange and couldn't even finish my last transmutation and he sends me back without my arm to keep me from messing with my gate."

Elric looked directly at the student who had mocked him. "You're not close or even aware of the level that you need to be to make the mistakes I did. And if you were, could you survive like me and live with the consequences?" He shook his head and gave a strange, cold and mocking laugh. "Just learn and stick to the basic array. That's all for this year anyway. Nothing to give you a metal arm. Nothing you can't do with your own two hands."

Agnese had always thought alchemy was a wondrous science that let them do things other people couldn't. It was the closest thing to god. She had never thought of it as just a science and that alchemists were only humans in the end. Elric was a sudden wake up call that shoed them if they messed up, they were in for serious consequences. Something Agnese had never thought about. There was more to alchemy than it seemed. Just like how there was more to Elric than what they had seen. He no longer seemed like just an arrogant boy. Their professor was surely something else and they haven't seen everything yet.

**Updating regularly is hard since I'm busy right now. I am super stressed and barely sleeping. It took less than I expected to write this chapter but I cannot guarantee the same for the next (and final) chapter. I think I will make the last chapter more fluff and fun.**  
**Maybe I should do a rough update schedule or what I'm working on kinda thing for my profile.**


	3. Professors Who Are More Than They Seem

**So I woke up in the middle of the night and saw I had missed a comment on AO3 that was rather helpful. I have updated the previous chapters a little bit to make Ed seems a bit more mature and scream less? Hope I worked and helped tie it all together with this chapter too. Previous readers might want to check it out and see, it's mostly change in the dialogues and Ed's attitude/reactions and not really a change in content. Hope you enjoy and leave a comment if you have anything to add, they are much appreciated. This chapter took a bit to put on sorry about that. Also the character limits for summaries and chapter/story names are killing me. I had to shorten this chapter's incredibly long name from AO3. **

Agnese was excited. About a month of studying and doing nothing else, listening to Elric drone on and on… Trying to decipher his god-awful handwriting… All so that they could do their first transmutation. Once it was time, it did feel like it was worth all this pain.

Agnese was scared just like everybody else. When Elric had revealed his automail arm and told them rebounds could kill, it was a terrifying eye opener. He had assured them what messed him up was something far advanced than anything they would ever attempt. It would be hard to mess up what they would be doing in this lecture and they had perfect equations and circle given by Elric. He told them if they messed up to the point of a rebound it would be more impressive than doing the transmutation itself. Either way he had managed to instill a fear and contempt to alchemy that the naïve students didn't possess before in their ignorance. It had stopped them from going and transmuting something themselves and wait for this lecture instead.

Even with all the fear installed in them, the thrill of finally transmuting was thick in the air that morning, suppressing any other feeling. It was one of their too early in the morning Tuesday lectures, yet everybody was wide awake, if not more awake than they had ever been. Agnese's excitement overpowered her fear and exhaustion, she had woken up too early, yet she was practically vibrating in her seat with energy.

Elric seemed to lack their enthusiasm as he was running late. He had never really been late since their first lecture, so it was a surprise. An unwelcome surprise to the overly excited students. "I can't believe he's running late today of all days." That was the first time Agnese had heard Gavin complain about Elric.

They were all shaken by the door being kicked open more violently than usual. Elric looked quite unhappy and angry as he came in. They all have learned despite Elric's boundless energy he had once he got rolling and taking about alchemy, he was no more a morning person than most of his students. He hated the early lectures as much as they did but always put in the effort to be on time. This morning, his anger seemed to be more than his usual before coffee morning grumpiness that they could all relate to. He was grumbling something under his breath as he aggressively threw his red coat on the table.

While Elric coming in pissed so bad was usual, it could be chalked up to it being too early or a bad night's sleep that could be fixed with some coffee and an enthusiastic talk about alchemy. The rather familiar looking black haired man in a crisp suit following him with a rather serene smile with an edge of calculating was most unusual. It was only made more peculiar by the fact that most students could recognize the man from newspapers as General Mustang the Flame Alchemist. He followed after Elric and settled on the chair behind teacher's desk that Elric seldom used. Elric told them to stay put as he brought some clay in a rather irritated tone, but it was clear the irritation was not directed to them.

They could feel General's gaze on them. He kept smiling calmly at them, too innocent yet unable to hide the sadistic and satisfied twist to the corners of his mouth. "What a lovely class. He complains a lot but wakes up early to rush here every lecture to teach you." They didn't know how to react to that as Elric never really gave the impression he particularly enjoyed teaching them. "Or maybe Fullmetal is showing an unexpectedly punctual side of him that he never showed me, not even when he was under my command."  
"Bold words from a man that can't do any of his paperwork on time and wouldn't go in until lunch if it was up to him." Elric had come in rather quietly with the wheeled tray and it had been hard to tell he was there when he opened the door normally instead of kicking it. "I do them on time, when they count."  
"With Hawkeye putting a gun to your head." General gave an innocent smile and raised his hands up in a surrendering gesture.

Elric dragged the tray next to the teacher's desk. "You know, since you're bothering my lecture, you could've at least drawn a simple array for transmuting clay and pretended you know anything besides fire alchemy and not completely useless like a wet matchstick."  
"They are not my students."  
"Then don't butt into the lecture." It was scary yet impressive how Elric seemed to not give a damn about showing respect to such a high-ranking military officer and a fellow accomplished alchemist. He also seemed rather familiar with General, too familiar for just fellow soldiers.

"Since you insisted on coming here, you might as well make yourself useful Colonel Bastard or get the hell out of here." There was a resounding silence at that. Not only Elric was insulting General's rank but he was calling the man a bastard as if it wasn't enough. "It's been a while since I ranked up from a colonel, Fullmetal." The General seemed calm as if this was a common occurrence and didn't react to being called a bastard at all. "And it's been a while since I resigned but you keep calling me Fullmetal more than my name."  
"Old habits die hard? Besides I call you by your name when it matters." His grin at this point was salacious and more than suggestive, making the students question what kind of relationship the two men had.

Elric shook his head and started drawing the transmutation circle on the board with equations on the side. He seemed to give up on bothering General and with his irritation still present addressed the class instead. "You all remember what's in clay? Do have to go over it again?" There was the sound of rustling papers as they all brought out their noted from previous lectures and shook their heads. "Come and get a hundred grams of clay each. Make sure you weight them to be exact." The confusion of Elric's banter with General yielded to the excitement at the lecture being on track and progressing towards their first transmutation.

"Copy the transmutation circle on an empty paper. I'll come and check." Elric called out as he finished writing down the equations. "You should also be useful no that you're here, bastard. Maybe show that the state alchemist title isn't for nothing." General chuckled and stood up. "You wound me Ed." He followed up on Elric's instructions to come and inspect how they were doing.

Agnese thought General Mustang was a handsome man, a thought many shared. He looked young, Agnese didn't know his age exactly but he looked thirty. He had black hair in a neat cut that fell on his face with dark smothering eyes. A contrast to their leather pants and black shirts wearing professor, he was dressed sharply with a white shirt a black suit jacket eve while out of uniform. A professional man oozing charm, what she had expected Elric to be before proven wrong. Agnese could smell expensive cologne as he leaned over her shoulder to inspect her work. "That circle looks a bit askew, not perfectly round." His voice was deep and calm, a startling change from Elric's higher pitched, louder and energetic voice.

She wasn't the only girl to blush when General went around helping. The other three girls seemed to be reacting similarly. Elric seemed rather dissatisfied with General's help and didn't share the excitement the girls seemed to have. "I hope you're not flirting with my students. Barely legal students if I have to remind."  
"I would never. I am just helping as you asked." General's smile was failing to look innocent and the sadistic edge to it was very similar to what Elric's smirks often had. "Although I have to remind, they are your age."  
"They weren't under your command like me for four years, they don't know what a lecherous bastard you are. Besides I don't count as barely legal since I've been in military at twelve." It was a bit mind boggling to think he was running around in military while they were still in elementary school. General rolled his eyes but kept on smiling. "I'm just trying to help."

Elric being under General's command explained how he knew such a high profile person. However, it didn't explain their strange relationship of what seemed to be mutual disrespect with bickering and a closeness beyond a former soldier and his commanding officer. It also didn't explain why and how General would so casually follow his former subordinate to his lecture in a university. The whole thing about flirting with students and Elric's comments about General's supposed lecherous side…But it couldn't be. The age difference, how different they were and they were both men… And Elric had called the man bastard repeatedly.

Agnese had to get her mind out of the gutter and fix her egg shaped circle. Elric didn't like them using compasses, he said every alchemist should be able to make a perfect circle anytime, anywhere and with anything. It wasn't easy. Gavin seemed to be doing good. Elric gave him an appreciative nod before looking at Agnese's new circle. "Not as bad as it could be. Do another one." He was much more gruff compared to smooth talking General but not necessarily rude.

For another ten minutes Elric and General went around correcting people and making sure every array was perfect. Agnese got their approval with her third array. "Seems like everybody has a passable transmutation circle. Now who can tell me the chemical structure of clay?" After Elric got his desired answer of hydrolyzed aluminum phyllosilicate, he continued talking. "Understanding is the first step of transmutation and the key. For this one we're not interested in chemically altering clay but we do base out array on it anyway."

Elric grabbed a piece of chalk to draw a transmutation circle on his desk before slapping some clay on it. He treated the desk without much care, confident that he could fix it anyway. "To activate the array you need to use the circle to gather enough tectonic energy. When you have enough energy, the array will activate." He put gloved fingers, flesh and metal, on the circle. Soon they could see the charge building and blue lightnings crackling around the circle. "Now you have to direct the energy. You should not stop and keep it going. First you deconstruct." The clay seemed to be breaking apart and becoming a mess on the table. "You have to concentrate to keep the transmutation going after deconstruction. Direct the energy and have a clear idea of what you want the clay to become. Use the energy and reconstruct into the shape you want." The clay morphed, moving around as if it had life of its own until it turned into a dragon with scales, large spine and spikes all over with spread wings. The detail of the statue was incredible. "You won't get anything this detailed for a long time. Just go for simple and try to finish the transmutation rather than overachieving."

Agnese like many others were struggling. Gavin managed to gather the energy but not enough to actually perform the transmutation. General was leaning over their shoulders. He spoke to Gavin first. "You need to keep your focus and keep going. First transmutations are hard and can be draining but keep trying. You're on the right track." He turned to Agnese. "It's ok if you don't get it right away. I think Ed," There again, that familiarity… "forgets that not everybody can crack down alchemy at the age of five. You have to think of this as an energy circle, like all the ones in nature. Draw power from the Earth. The circle connects you to it and let's you draw power from it. Focus and try again."

Agnese wasn't sure if she understood. But energy cycles were something that was a big thing in other science branches as well. The world had many cycles, she had to think of them and tap into their power. Next try got energy cracking around the circle and power humming along the circle, touching her fingertips. She could turn that lump of clay to dust now, make it infinitely smaller and the array followed along her thoughts. The clay was flaking and breaking down like Elric's. His voice was in her ears now. "Now imagine reconstructing. Imagine a shape. Mold the clay, put those pieces back together how you want them to be." She thought of her cat from when she was a little kid, a fat and cute animal. The clay followed along her thoughts. Soon it was a ball with four limbs, a misshaped head with two sharp ears attached and a fat tail coming out from the other end. Nothing like Elric's incredibly detailed work of art but it was magnificent anyway. Her first transmutation!

She felt a bit dizzy and tired. Even such a small and simple transmutation had drained her focus and energy. She turned to her side to see a similarly tires Gavin holding up a lumpy looking horse with a gigantic grin on his face. "I can't believe I did it!" He exclaimed. "I know right!" Similar shouts of ecstasy and wonder could be heard all around the lecture hall. Elric and General went around helping the everybody until the whole class managed complete their transmutations. "Anybody can do alchemy as long as they have the knowledge, dedication and the focus. I think this made a satisfying lecture and you're all exhausted." Someone called a no shit which Elric only laughed at instead of reprimanding them for the language. It would've been hypocritical anyway. "I'll let you guys off for today. Write a thousand-word essay by Friday about your transmutation, every step and how it works. Include your own experience. They will be marked for your term grade." Nobody even groaned. They were just way too happy from performing their first transmutations. They were alchemists now.

General Mustang put on his long black overcoat before handing Elric his red one in a show of courtesy. Elric shrugged it on for the first time in front of students with a fluid and practiced motion. As he dragged out the tray with leftover clay the symbol on the back was clear as day. A cross with a snake wrapped around and a crown with wings above. The alchemist's symbol, something they all aspired to possess one day. General followed after Elric, rushing briefly to open the door for their professor. They weren't quite out of the lecture hall when he talked. "Shall we go to back to bed now?"  
"In your dreams bastard." A too confident chuckle followed. Genera was calling Elric on his bluff. That explained too much.

* * *

The questionable relationship Prof. Elric seemed to have with General had been baffling but in a way it made him more human in Agnese's eyes. So far his encyclopedic alchemy knowledge, inability to relate to his students when they didn't understand something Elric considered as basic, his single minded focus, the fact that he had risked and arm for alchemy and worked obsessively to be a state alchemist at the age of twelve and a professor at nineteen made Elric seem a bit inhuman. It at least gave the impression he had forsaken everything else to get so far in alchemy at his age, which could've been true once upon a time but the students didn't know much about their professor's past. This little sliver of information, how he had a relationship, made him seem more human and more approachable. At least to Agnese.

She had always been a diligent student. That hadn't changed when she got to university, she had been spending a lot of time studying and chasing her professors around for extra tutorials and sign-ups on anything she felt lacking in. Elric was the exception, the only professor she had yet to approach. In a way, she could now see that he was disappointed and he was unable to relate why they were struggling so much with things he understood as a kid. He had been doing a better job each week at explaining and he was very thorough with his explanations. He was genuinely trying and it was clear despite his slightly short temper and disappointment. He seemed very eager to share his knowledge and guide them. General was proof that Elric's insults weren't necessarily hurtful and were directed to anyone, he was a bit rude with a foul mouth not cold or evil. His dedication and knowledge was intimidating but he was willing to share them if they could just approach him.

Agnese was nervous when she knocked on Elric's door. She had been here only once before, just to sign her name on the sign-up tutorials list on his door. The list had been empty besides one tutorial he had with Gavin the day after the transmutation. Gavin had told her that Elric was crazy about alchemy and he would talk rather discuss theories in their next years after they had learned more. Students of higher levels were welcome to knock on his door for him to destroy their theories and show them what they were doing wrong. His knowledge in so many areas of alchemy was astounding. Gavin had also asked about the riddle. "He told me he doesn't want to give hints but I was close apparently. But I can't say anything because apparently we have to figure it out ourselves." All in all it seemed that Agnese didn't have any reason to be so nervous.

She opened the door and stepped in when Elric called out for her to come in. The office was rather small with shelves behind Elric's desk filled with books journals and what seemed to be research papers. She could see a stack of their essays on the side of his desk with hers pulled out in front of him, marked with red ink. She hadn't expected him to have it graded already just two days after hand in. "Have a seat."  
"Should I close the door?" A shrug. She closed it for the sake of privacy.

It was weird being in the same room alone with Elric. He had a very large presence belying his stature on the shorter side of the spectrum. He seemed at ease with his pristine white gloves off for once, pushed to the edge of the desk, sleeves rolled up displaying mismatched limbs. "I'm guessing you have questions." His smirk a bit lopsided and with a predatory edge aided by his piercing gold eyes. It wasn't really sadistic or evil as it always seemed to be in the lecture hall, sharp as hell for sure though. "Well I wanted to know of my progress. How I'm doing and what I can improve." His grind stayed just as sharp. "Well those are hard questions and best answered by yourself."

Elric's eyes swept over her essay. It seemed unlike the budding fear in Agnese suggested he wasn't going to leave her without an answer. "I would say you're doing average but decent job. I was impressed you managed to go all the way with your transmutation on the second try, good job with that." Agnese beamed at the compliment and at the fact that Elric had noticed it. "For what you can improve…" He pursed his lips. "The basic understanding of fundamental laws seems to be troubling you, along with quite a few others. I didn't expect people to struggle with those, I expected you guys to know that stuff already. I'm used to researching things myself and I think as an alchemist you need to be able to research."

He grabbed a paper from the stack of little note papers and a random blue pen on the desk. He held the pen gingerly with his automail hand before switching to a sturdier grip with his flesh hand. "I can suggest a few books for you to take a look at to understand the laws and principles of alchemy. The symbols are just a matter of memorizing and I don't think you need more books for those. A different explanation to the laws might be helpful in getting those down." He scratched a few titles on the paper and Agnese mentally grimaced at the idea of having to decipher Elric's handwriting after this tutorial. "I kind of expected people to look at other books for the sake of research and not just stick to the one that was chosen as the main for the course. The book we follow in lectures is basic and pretty solid but if you don't get something fully it's only natural to look at another one. Researching is essential for alchemy."

He handed the piece of paper to Agnese. "If you need more help just sign up for another tutorial and I can try explaining some more if you can clearly identify what you don't understand." The look in his eyes were daring her to do her best and challenging her to try learning by herself first. She could understand, she had to look for answers not just expect someone to present them to her. "I will look into these." Elric smiled, his white teeth showing in satisfaction and his smile less predatory than before. "If you have questions don't hesitate to ask. As you probably noticed I have a lot of open spots for tutorials." His smile was more sarcastic with a tinge of disappointment now. It was easy to see why he complained and grumbled so much at them, they weren't really trying and expecting him to give them the answers they had to look for themselves. "I'll try hard." Elric chuckled, eyes squeezed shut and smile wide. He was kind of a hard ass but he had a passion for alchemy and he seemed to enjoy her determination to do better and try harder. "I believe you can. Anything else?"

Agnese wasn't sure about asking more. "Well I was going to ask about the riddle…"  
"But you don't have an answer?" Elric had an eyebrow raised as he stated more than asked. It was impressive how the man seemed to just know things. "No." He didn't seem disappointed. "Well, I think you don't need to know alchemy that well to solve the riddle. And I wasn't planning to extend the time limit of one month but if you're interested then I don't mind giving you more time to think about it. We can make a deal. I won't help you with it, you have to figure it out yourself." Agnese wouldn't have it any other way. She was enjoying this man challenging her to work harder. "When you figure it out you can truly understand alchemy. I will teach you more about alchemy when you figure it out. It can be about any part of alchemy, anything you wanna know." That sounded like a too good deal. "That doesn't sound equivalent." Elric gave a laugh. "Spoken like an alchemist. But maybe not everything has to be equal and maybe I can give more than I take. Now that's a theory, isn't it?" Agnese smiled. "You're already giving us knowledge."  
"The lectures are something you earned by qualifying and you pay for them, give it your time and do more research on. And still don't understand." He added in a teasing tone. "There's a lot going on… We can debate if that's equivalent exchange or not. But for now you can focus on the basics and the riddle. We can talk about equivalence in the universe and inequivalence after that." That sounded like a sweet deal. "I have no choice but to accept." Elric gave a bright smile. Agnese mirrored his before teasingly asking. "Also…About General Mustang…"  
"Not another word." She was sent out right after.

* * *

In a way, Elric wasn't gentle. He was strict and he expected a lot but only because he believed they could do it. Agnese could now see it. Maybe he did expect too much as a child prodigy but they had to try harder too. She had to try harder. Not just to show Elric she could do it but for herself. She had to work hard for knowledge and deserve it not just expect to be given all the answers. Elric was very different from what she had originally expected and what she had assumed when she first saw him; a bit childish deep down, very eccentric and rather blunt with a side of rude. He wasn't bad though, not bad at all. It just took some time (and maybe the help of an equally eccentric and unexpected General) for her to see it. And maybe the lessons were not as painful as Agnese made them to be.

**This took a while to finish. I had a lot of assignments to do (that are thankfully over now) and then things happened and instead of finishing this chapter before I left for holiday I had to finish it after my rather long journey. It got delayed a bit more when I slept the entire day on 15th which was my original deadline. I think it was for the best, since I'm still not too late and I got to change a few things and I think it's better now. Although it ended up being longer than I planned. (I don't mind the length until I have t type it on the PC and it becomes an unending pain in my ass.) Hope you enjoy**.


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